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Doha Festival City Opens Up New Shopping Experience

Doha Festival City mall, Qatar’s largest entertainment, retail and dining destination, opens April 5 providing visitors a world class shopping experience. Built at a cost QR6.5 billion (US$1.784 billion), Doha Festival City is spread out over a total site area of 433,000 sq m. The mall is expected to welcome around 20 million visitors per year.

Doha Festival City has more than 8,000 parking spaces, across multi-storey, full basement and surface carparks. Bawabat Al-Shamal Real Estate Company (Basrec) is the developer and owner of Doha Festival City. The company is a joint venture Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Real Estate Services, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Aqar Real Estate Investment Company and a private Qatari investor.

Basrec has signed an agreement with Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate (AFGRE) to be the manager and operator of the mall. AFGRE owns and operates other Festival City malls in Dubai and Cairo. Doha Festival City is a stunning mixed-use development that will be home to more than 500 retail units, including leading international and local brands.

It incorporates Qatar’s first IKEA store, full-sized Monoprix hypermarket, Ace hardware store, and a range of other stores. Doha Festival City is also home to state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor activity areas, including four unique theme parks that bring with them cutting-edge technology to completely revolutionize mall entertainment.

‘Juniverse,’ harnesses the power of dynamic learning to inspire, educate and entertain; ‘Virtoucity’ will merge the virtual world with reality, to deliver an immersive digital experience; Snow Dunes will be Qatar’s first indoor snow park themed around a fantastical Arabian town set in the distant past and Angry Birds, the global gaming sensation and Hollywood blockbuster movie from Sony Entertainment will also launch its first theme park at the mall.

Additionally, VOX Cinemas is also set to revolutionize the cinema experience for audiences in Qatar with 18 digital screens including four new concepts - 4DX, Theatre by Rhodes, MAX and VOX Kids – which are exclusive to Doha Festival City.

The mall's center court will have an art installation created by visionary artist and sculptor David Harber. The sculpture, Torus, is four meters in diameter and will wow guests visiting the mall. David Harber is also producing a 4 m bronze ‘Keystone Ring’ with a Verdigris finish to be located outside one of the main entrances to the mall.

Doha Festival City has announced a number of initiatives that will position it as one of the region’s leading Smart Malls, utilizing the latest technologies to offer a convenient and stress-free experience for visitors. ‎Trevor Hill, general manager, said: “We have studied the best digital practices globally to ensure our visitors’ comprehensive journey through Doha Festical City is the most user-friendly and efficient experience throughout – from planning their trip via our website, to parking, wayfinding and being connected via the free Wi-Fi whilst here.

The technology we have implemented is quite new and exciting in the market. We are thrilled to be able to provide our valued customers with these smart options, where we will offer them support and convenience, delivering the definitive mall experience in Qatar.”

Digital wayfinders will be conveniently located throughout the mall. Doha Festival City will also offer visitors seamless connectivity with complimentary Wi-Fi to ensure visitors can find and share information and experiences. Once the visitor arrives at the mall, the smart carpark will allow them to easily gauge available spaces through a red and green light parking system essentially streamlining the parking experience.